HAWAII 


ROYAL  PALM  AVENUE  IN  ign,  HONOLULU 


HAWAII 

UNDER     KING     KALAKAUA 


FROM      PERSONAL 
EXPERIENCES      OF 

LEAVITT  H  HALLOCK 


PORTLAND  MAINE 
SMITH  &  SALE  PUBLISHERS 


COPYRIGHT   igil 

BY 
SMITH   &  SALE 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Royal  Palm  Avenue  in  1911,  Hono- 
lulu      Frontispiece 

In  front  of  the  hotels,  Waikiki  Beach  3 
Diamond  Head  from  Waikiki  Beach  8 
Avenue  of  Royal  Palms,  Honolulu  10 
Royal  Hawaiian  Hotel,  Honolulu  .  12 
Surf  canoeing  near  Diamond  Head  .  16 
Moana  Hotel,  Waikiki  Beach,  Hono- 
lulu    18 

Pineapple  plantation,  Wahiawa  .  .  20 
On  road  to  volcano  of  Kilauea  .  .  28 
Surf-board  riding,  Waikiki  Beach  .  .  30 
Dipping  canes  into  lava  cracks,  Kilauea  31 
Bridge  across  lava  crack,  near  Kilauea  33 
Captain  Cook's  monument  .  .  .  .  36 
The  Pali,  out  Nuuanu  Avenue,  Hono- 
lulu    39 

Diamond  Head  from  Kapiolani  Park  45 

Typical  Hawaiian  Girl 48 

Native  Hawaiian  "Luau"  or  feast      .  54 

Pounding  uPoi"     .......  56 

Coast  scene,  Island  of  Hawaii  ...  58 

Native  grass  hut,  now  rare  in  Hawaii  66 

Country  scene  in  Hawaii     ....  68 


225292 


FOREWORD 

*  •  VHIS  is  not  a  guide  book,  nor  a  story 
•*•  of  to-day  ! 

Yesterday  Hawaii  was  a  foreign  king- 
dom ;  to-day  it  is  an  out-lying  territory 
of  the  American  Republic. 

The  crown  has  departed;  the  king  is 
dead ;  the  simple  children  of  the  sea  are 
civilized,  over-run  by  Orientals,  displaced 
by  foreigners,  decimated  by  disease,  trans- 
formed by  travel,  and  caught  in  the  swirl 
of  a  tidal  wave  sweeping  in  from  other 
lands  and  spoiling  the  bloom  of  their  prim- 
itive simplicity. 

Politics,  social  functions,  commercialism 
and  immigration  have  turned  Honolulu 
cosmopolitan ;  annexation  has  made  it,  on 
the  highway  of  ihe  seas,  a  strategic  United 
States  military  port  of  the  Pacific. 

vii 


FOREWORD 

To  turn  back  a  leaf;  to  recall  and  re- 
touch the  fading  negative  of  the  dimming 
yesterday  is  the  aim  of  this  book ;  to  save 
from  oblivion  a  people  that  are  passing]  to 
review  conditions  that  have  already  passed, 
and  to  outline  some  natural  and  scenic 
beauties  that  will  never  pass,  has  been  the 
author  s  purpose,  hoping  thus  to  give  the 
reader  a  pleasing  hour,  not  altogether 
without  profit. 

The  giant  volcanoes,  the  matchless  cloud- 
land  and  the  superb  climate  still  offer  their 
perennial  charms  in  this  Paradise  of  tour- 
ists, while  now  the  telephone,  the  trolley 
and  the  automobile  add  their  comforts  also 
to  the  abounding  wealth  and  luxury  of 
beautiful  Honolulu. 

Aloha  Nui  !    Bright  gem  of  the  Pacific  ! 

LEAVITT    H.    HALLOCK 

Lewiston,  Maine,  IQII 


HAWAII 


HAWAII 

SAN    FRANCISCO    TO    HAWAII    AND 
A  NIGHT  WITH  THE  VOLCANOES 

FAR  to  the  seaward  end  of  the  Pacific 
Mail  Company's  wharf  in  San  Fran- 
cisco Bay,  lay  a  trim  iron  steamship  flying 
the  "  Union  Jack  "  and  lying  like  a  duck 
in  graceful  length  of  four  hundred  feet, 
awaiting  the  hour  of  "  eight  bells  "  to  begin 
her  flight  to  the  Great  Southwest,  New 
Zealand  and  Australia,  touching  at  Hono- 
lulu the  eighth  day  out. 

Coaches,  carriages  and  carts  crowded  the 
dock,  and  Chinamen,  porters  and  officers 
mingled  confusing  shouts  until  "  All  ashore 
that 's  goin'  ashore  !  "  rang  along  the  deck, 
the  plank  was  lifted,  and  majestically  the 
floating  palace  moved  from  her  moorings 
and  pointed  for  the  Golden  Gate. 

Slowly  skirting  the  city  front,  leaving  on 
her  left  the  thronged  streets,  Banks  of  gold, 
"  Nob  Hill "  and  the  mansions  of  million- 
aires and  all  the  dreary  sand-dunes ;  thirty 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

miles  of  the  finest  of  harbors  at  her  stern,  she 
threaded  her  way  amid  Russian  and  Italian 
frigates,  craft  flying  the  colors  of  Japan,  of 
South  America  and  all  lands;  for  this  is 
a  cosmopolitan  port  and  the  keels  of  the 
world  ride  here. 

Two  hours  pass,  and  we  have  left  astern 
that  bay  of  beauty  besieged  by  soft  brown 
hills :  bold  abutments  frown  two  thousand 
feet  high  upon  our  right,  guns  gape  at  us 
from  sand-encircled  forts  at  our  left  as  we 
pass  through  God's  Golden  Gate,  and  meet 
old  ocean's  waves  rolling  in  straight  from 
Japan's  distant  shore. 

Now  the  grand  blue  ocean  lies  trackless 
before  us  :  the  solitary  Farallone  Islands  lift 
their  bird-thronged,  pinnacled  heights  on 
our  starboard ;  we  have  watched  the  tum- 
bling sea-lions  till  distance  hid  their  strange 
gambols,  and  I  am  sitting  with  my  friend 
on  the  hurricane  deck.  I  note  that  our 
course  is  due  southwest,  and  reflect  that 
the  "  long-roll "  of  the  sea  is  sad  music  to 
a  landsman.  We  both  grow  solemn ;  my 
friend  is  sketching  the  last  real  estate  she 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

will  see  for  two  thousand  miles  :  her  hand 
seems  to  tremble ;  she  pales  a  little,  and 
suddenly  asks,  "Are  you  going  down?" 
"  O  no  ! "  I  replied,  "  Do  you  feel  sick? " 
"Not  at  all,"  said  she  meekly,  but  very 
soon,  by  a  common  but  unseen  impulse 
came  the  exclamation,  "I'm  going  down  ! " 
and  we  two  went  tumultuously  below  and 
were  lost  to  sight  for  two  days,  during 
which  it  was  no  concern  of  ours  whether 
we  went  to  Honolulu  or  twenty  leagues 
under  the  sea.  Neptune  received  tribute ; 
outgoes  were  large ;  income  reduced  to  a 
teaspoonful  of  beef  tea  and  the  unwelcome 
aroma  of  a  cup  of  coffee,  but  at  last  the 
ordeal  was  over  and  the  third  day  returned 
us  on  deck,  whiter  and  lighter  than  before 
and  much  happier.  One  by  one  faint 
ladies  and  pale  men  appear,  whom  one  is 
tempted  to  ask  "  When  did  you  come  on 
board?" 

Now  we  catch  the  exhilaration  of  the 
scene;  to  the  far  horizon  level  roll  the 
great  blue  waves,  white-crested  and  majes- 
tic ;  the  crisp  air  is  a  tonic  and  the  cigar- 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

shaped  steamer  rocks  us  pitilessly  in  the 
cradle  of  the  deep. 

To-day  the  sails  are  up,  with  curving 
lines  of  sunlight  glinting  on  their  swell 
fronts ;  the  long  line  of  black  smoke  lies, 
a  giant  cable,  from  smokestack  to  horizon, 
and  under  it  the  white  trail  of  sea-foam  in 
the  vessel's  wake.  Convalescent  passen- 
gers are  chatting  together  in  graceful 
groups,  while  some  energetic  hero  is 
lunging  along  the  deck  for  his  precious 
health.  Such  a  cosmopolitan  company  it 
was  !  they  talked  as  familiarly  of  London 
and  Edinburgh,  of  Melbourne  and  Tas- 
mania, of  the  statesmen  of  England  and  of 
Germany  as  we  New  Englanders  do  of 
New  York  and  Boston,  of  Portland  and 
Bangor.  It  made  one  feel  that  a  trip 
across  the  continent  is  but  a  holiday  run, 
and  we,  going  only  to  Honolulu  —  a  mere 
matter  of  five  or  six  thousand  miles  —  were 
but  way  passengers. 

Bright,  social  days  came  and  went  and 
the  commonest  events  of  our  everyday 
home  life  were  as  entertaining  tales  from  a 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

far  land.  Speaking  of  Connecticut,  a  very 
intelligent  English  officer  from  Australia 
asked,  u  Connecticut !  where  is  Connecti- 
cut ?  is  it  in  Boston  ? " 

Then  came  moonlight  nights  with  the 
glory  of  a  golden  pathway  to  the  Infinite  on 
the  glistening  wave  :  deck  promenades  with 
New  Zealand  ladies  and  men  from  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland ;  harps  and  glees 
and  yarns ;  then  the  softening  breath  of 
the  coming  tropics,  and  the  days  sped 
only  too  swiftly  until  on  the  morning  of 
the  eighth  our  breakfast  was  shortened  by 
the  shout  "Land  ahead!"  and  everyone 
rushed  on  deck  to  see  the  strange  outline 
of  the  far-away  isles  and  to  welcome  the 
solid  earth  once  more. 

Ah  !  there  is  Maui,  the  nearest  island, 
lifting  its  grand  old  truncated  cone  ten 
thousand  feet  above  the  surf  in  weird  sub- 
limity. An  hour  more  and  we  sight  Oahu 
and  the  port  of  Honolulu. 

The  first  and  distant  view  is  disappoint- 
ing, but  the  red  and  grey  ridges  of  volcanic 
rock  improve  as  we  draw  near,  for  amid 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

their  scorched  and  weather-beaten  heights 
we  catch  a  glimpse  of  cool,  fern -lined 
gulches  bright  with  the  pea-green  of  the 
ku-kui  trees  and  dashed  with  sparkling 
waterfalls ;  cocoanut  trees  flinging  their 
u feather-duster  plumes"  aloft  fringe  the 
shore ;  flying  fish  glance  out  of  the  waves 
like  phantoms,  one  of  them  landing  on 
our  deck  for  inspection,  and  presently 
we  round  that  barren  and  imposing  old 
land-mark,  "  Diamond  Head,"  an  extinct 
crater  projecting  five  miles  into  the  sea, 
and  are  making  the  harbor. 

Before  us  lie  the  green  slopes  and  rich 
foliage  of  the  vine-embowered  city  of 
Honolulu,  across  an  emerald  transparence 
of  clear  water  where  beautiful  branching 
coral,  seeming  to  wave  with  the  surface 
ripples,  throws  strange  light  up  from  the 
green  and  white  garden  below.  Now  the 
boats,  then  the  cables,  and  with  becoming 
dignity  we  glide  up  to  the  long  wharf  and 
are  in  King  Kalakaua's  dominions. 

Already  we  have  had  a  glimpse  of 
island  life,  for  about  a  mile  from  the  dock 


8 


• 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

a  crowd  of  half-grown  molasses-candy- 
colored  boys  appeared  in  Nature's  first 
swimming  costume,  floating,  yelling,  and 
diving  in  high  glee.  A  silver  coin  thrown 
from  the  deck  caused  the  instant  disappear- 
ance of  every  head,  the  sudden  apparition 
of  twice  as  many  feet,  and  a  few  seconds 
later  the  howling  lads  came  up,  shaking 
the  water  from  their  eyes,  and  the  success- 
ful diver  held  aloft  the  prize  brought  up 
from  forty  feet  of  water,  tucked  it  into  his 
cheek  (the  only  pocket  available)  and 
lustily  called  for  more  ;  thus  gallantly  were 
we  escorted  into  port. 

Once  within  the  wharf  gates,  lo  !  an 
abundance  of  native  express  wagons,  with 
coppery  drivers  waiting  in  silent  patience 
for  customers !  bronzed  men,  and  large- 
bodied,  lounging  women  watched  us  curi- 
ously, smiling  at  our  hurry  and  our  bustling 
anxiety.  They  never  hurry;  it  isn't  con- 
genial to  their  climate,  or  their  character. 

Stroll  with  me  up  the  streets  of  this 
strange,  green-canopied  city,  more  like  a 
wide  park  than  a  town.  Its  lanes  are  narrow 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

near  the  sea  but  spread  out  into  beautiful 
broad,  shaded  avenues  above,  lined  with 
large,  rambling  houses,  independent  of  foun- 
dations or  chimneys, —  they  need  neither, — 
and  mantled  with  luxuriant  drapery  of  vines. 
Here  are  graceful  pepper  trees,  feathery 
tamarinds,  umbrella  trees,  and  royal  palms 
that  spread  out  vase-like  at  the  base, 
and  are  straight  as  an  arrow,  with  plumes 
for  tops ;  slender  cocoanuts  from  fifty  to 
sixty  feet  high,  laden  with  fruit  that  hangs 
by  a  long,  tough  stem,  like  fibrous  cordline  : 
I  climbed  a  tree  and  detached  a  nut  with 
much  difficulty.  The  "milk"  is  always 
cool  and  the  fruit  is  most  delicious  when 
soft  and  green,  and  is  eaten  with  a  spoon. 

There  are  luscious  bananas  drooping  in 
heavy  clusters  under  wide,  shredded  leaves  ; 
papayas  with  fruit  like  a  musk  melon,  and 
that  queen  of  the  tropics  the  mango  tree, 
literally  burdened  with  its  weight  of  sweet- 
ness. The  fruit  resembles  an  inverted 
pear  outside,  a  yellow  peach  within ;  it  is 
good  raw  or  cooked,  in  sauce  or  to  make 
"apple  pies"  of;  it  has  a  taste  like  —  tur- 


10 


AVENUE  OF  ROYAL  PALMS  HONOLULU 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

pentine,  but  is  really  delicious  for  all  that 
and  very  healthful.  I  saw  a  young  lady 
eat  a  whole  dish  full  of  them  —  thirteen  — 
before  retiring,  and  she  was  at  breakfast 
next  morning. 

Swarms  of  brown  men  are  everywhere, 
and  women  too  in  wide  single  gowns  of 
brightest  calico,  cut  with  a  broad  yoke 
before  and  behind  alike,  gathered  at  the 
yoke  and  hanging  to  the  feet,  full  and 
flowing  at  their  own  sweet  will,  unbelted 
and  untucked ;  they  have  no  waist  line 
and  are  without  a  ruffle,  comfortable  no 
doubt  to  the  wearer  in  that  warm  climate, 
but  a  trifle  embarrassing  to  a  stranger  who 
happens  to  meet  any  of  them  when  the 
wind  puffs  them  up  like  a  balloon  and  they 
take  up  all  the  sidewalk.  The  Delineator 
had  few  subscribers  among  the  kanakas, 
for  the  fashion  had  not  changed  for  sixty 
years,  and  this  is  the  style  of  dress  first  in- 
troduced by  the  early  missionaries.  Pictur- 
esque in  the  extreme  are  the  streets,  full  of 
horses  galloping  wildly  and  mounted  by 
women  astride  whose  flowing  robes  stream 


11 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

far  behind  them,  whose  brown  brows  are 
crowned  with  the  inevitable  wreath  of 
bright  flowers : — stemless,  and  threaded 
like  beads  on  a  string — and  their  faces 
aglow  with  exhilaration  as  they  ride  at 
break-neck  speed  through  the  city. 

Down  town  are  petty  stores  kept  by 
half-whites  and  "celestials  "  talking  broken- 
china  English,  selling  war-clubs  and  fans, 
pink  and  white  coral  from  the  South  Seas, 
and  nicknacks  of  native  handiwork  made 
from  beads  and  mimosa  seeds,  some  of 
which  are  very  attractive. 

There  are  better  stores  up  town ;  a 
hundred  thousand  dollar  hotel ;  a  post- 
office  thronged  on  "steamer  days"  —  but 
otherwise  dull.  We  pass  good  govern- 
ment buildings,  the  king's  palace,  several 
churches,  and  find  ourselves  in  Nuaana 
Avenue,  the  pride  of  Honolulu  whose 
houses  ramble  luxuriantly,  festooned  with 
vines  and  filled  with  generous  hospitality. 

A  seven-mile  gallop  along  the  broad  and 
beautiful  Nuaana  Avenue  leads  us  through 
the  suburbs,  green  fields  and  out-cropping 


12 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

rocks,  to  the  famous  "pali"  or  precipice. 
The  approach  grows  rugged  until  it  lies 
amid  abrupt  grey  and  red  shafts  lifting 
their  high  peaks  from  carpets  of  green  and 
crowned  with  the  brilliant  marks  of  their 
volcanic  birth.  The  rocks  on  either  hand 
close  in  like  a  gateway,  and  as  we  pass 
into  the  narrowing  gorge  we  are  suddenly 
arrested  with  our  feet  on  the  very  edge  of 
a  precipice  a  thousand  feet  high,  beyond 
which  opens  a  vista  of  surpassing  beauty. 
The  widening  valley  at  our  feet  spreads 
out  into  luxuriant  meadows  and  sugar-cane 
fields,  with  here  and  there  the  tall  chimney 
of  a  sugar  mill.  Yonder  dwells  a  Grace  of 
cocoanut  groves  shaking  her  waving  locks 
over  grass  huts  and  the  eternal  summer  sea. 
On  the  shore  nestles  a  village  with  its 
native  church ;  canoes  with  "  out-riggers  " 
skim  the  waves,  and  beyond  is  the  never- 
dying  line  of  snowy  surf  glistening  in  the 
sunlight,  echoed  by  all  the  white-caps  of 
the  sea  afar ;  and  over  the  scene  of  beauty, 
tropic's  fair  trees,  low  brown  homes  and 
distant  lava  cones,  there  lies  a  soft  haze  as  of 


13 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

Indian  summer's  best,  and  the  dim  horizon 
is  level  with  the  meeting  of  earth  and  sky, 
save  that  on  clearest  of  days  the  mighty 
slope  of  God's  great  pyramid  of  Haleakala 
lifts  its  long  blue  outline  like  an  arrested 
wave  of  the  sea  suddenly  stayed  from  some 
old  passing  storm. 

Leisurely  returning  to  the  city  we  sleep 
under  netting,  for  Honolulu  is  a  mosquito's 
paradise :  there  are  two  kinds,  relieving 
each  other  by  day  and  night  so  that  no 
time  is  lost.  I  called  on  a  lady  who  was 
sitting  within  an  "umbrella  netting"  sew- 
ing, while  I  remained  outside  and  fought 
my  innumerable  foes  with  a  lively  fan. 

A  few  days  of  dining  and  driving  and  of 
social  fellowship  with  delightful  Honolulu 
families  convinced  us  that  there  is  nowhere 
to  be  found  better  society  or  a  more  perfect 
example  of  genuine  hospitality  than  in  that 
beautiful  island  city. 

One  afternoon  we  boarded  a  little  steamer 
for  Maui  seventy  miles  distant,  and  in  an 
hour  thereafter  were  in  mid-channel  receiv- 
ing the  full  worth  of  our  passage  money 


14 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

in  as  much  pitching  and  tossing  as  any  line 
of  channel  steamers  can  afford.  Sounds  of 
general  disenchantment  emerge  from  the 
cabin,  reenforced  by  the  voice  of  the  wise 
who  chose  to  lie  on  deck  under  the  balmy 
night  sky,  feeling  no  trace  of  chill  in  the  soft 
sea  air.  Being  among  the  latter  I  watched 
our  approach,  at  half  past  three  in  the 
morning,  to  the  fairy  city  Lahaina,  sheltered 
by  ancient  bread-fruit  trees  and  guarded, 
like  every  island  port,  by  a  coral  reef  which 
keeps  steamers  a  mile  away  and  compels 
all  landing  or  lading  to  be  done  with 
small  boats. 

What  a  morning  that  was  on  deck  in 
the  dim  starlight !  Sleepers,  white  and 
brown,  are  lying  about ;  the  idle-flapping 
sails,  the  deep-breathing  engine,  the  dip  of 
strong  oars  fading. away  toward  the  shore, 
the  tremulous  roar  of  breakers,  the  solemn 
heights  of  the  giant  volcano  before  us,  the 
North  Star  hugging  the  horizon,  the  South- 
ern Cross  low  in  the  heavens,  combined  to 
make  that  scene  on  the  waves  in  the  small 
hours  of  the  night,  six  thousand  miles 


15 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

from  home,  weird  and  beautiful  beyond 
description.  When  passengers  bad  been 
finally  exchanged  we  head  to  windward, 
round  the  island's  rocky  point,  and  at  eight 
o'clock  the  throbbing  engine  rests  and 
boats  begin  to  ply  ashore  at  Kahului. 

Horses  were  in  waiting  and  we  were 
soon  transported  up  the  volcano's  slope, 
through  jungles  of  prickly  pear  and  broad 
fields  of  sugar-cane  that  stretch  as  far  as 
the  eye  can  reach ;  fields  that  yield  from 
three  to  seven  tons  of  sugar  to  the  acre, 
unsurpassed  in  all  the  world.  Here  we 
pass  the  Haiku  plantation,  owned  by  sons 
of  the  venerable  missionary  Alexander. 
The  father  went  to  the  ends  of  the  earth 
to  save  souls;  his  sons,  on  the  same  soil, 
became  worth  a  million.  Thus  does  God 
sometimes  fulfil  His  promise  of  "an  hun- 
dred fold  in  this  present  time." 

Sugar  is  the  principal  crop  of  the  islands 
whose  deep  volcanic  soil  and  warm  even 
climate  are  admirable  for  its  growth.  The 
crop  grows  from  eighteen  to  twenty  months, 
from  twelve  to  fifteen  feet  high,  larger 


16 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

round  than  my  wrist;  and  when  mature 
the  leaves  are  stripped,  the  stalks  crushed 
in  rollers,  the  juice  boiled  with  the  refuse 
cane  for  fuel,  and  good  sugar  turned  out  at 
the  rate  of  ten  tons  a  day  from  a  single  mill. 
Land  suitable  for  sugar  cane  is  limited  in 
area,  in  part  by  the  conformation  of  the 
surface  and  in  part  by  the  limited  rain-fall. 
On  one  side  of  an  island,  for  instance,  is 
an  abundance  of  rain,  while  the  opposite 
side  is  as  barren  as  an  ash  heap.  This  is 
caused  by  the  impact  of  the  moisture-laden 
trade  winds  upon  the  lofty  peaks  produc- 
ing mechanical  pressure,  condensation  and 
rain,  like  squeezing  water  from  a  sponge. 
Once  over  the  summit  there  is  expansion 
and  no  rain.  The  windward  side  is  of 
great  value,  while  the  leeward  side  in  its 
natural  state  is  comparatively  worthless, 
having  no  rain  for  ten  months  in  the  year. 
This  peculiarity  makes  the  climatic  condi- 
tions most  treacherous ;  for  on  the  "  wet 
side"  on  a  bright  day  this  sudden  gusty 
condensation  will  occur  without  warning 
and  you  are  drenched  in  ten  minutes;  as 


17 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

suddenly  it  clears  and  the  sun  shines  again. 
This  process  may  be  repeated  a  dozen 
times  in  a  day,  and  one  should  always  be 
provided  with  wraps  although,  in  these 
soft  temperatures,  such  sprinkles  are  not 
very  disagreeable. 

To  increase  the  sugar-producing  area 
immense  ditches  are  dug  from  the  rainy 
side,  running  on  grade  around  to  the  dry 
slopes.  Claus  Spreckles,  the  California 
sugar  king,  built  an  aqueduct  twelve  feet 
wide  and  thirty  miles  long,  bringing  water 
upon  his  purchase  of  thirty  thousand  acres 
of  government  land.  It  was  hitherto  as 
dry  as  dust,  "getting  up  and  lying  down 
in  another  place  at  the  slightest  provoca- 
tion," but  is  now  covered  with  waving 
cane,  coining  money  for  its  owner  like  a 
government  mint.  He  told  me  that  he 
expected  to  put  a  million  dollars  into  it, 
and  hoped  to  "get  rich"  by  it.  How 
much  does  it  take  to  make  a  man  rich  ? 
Answer :  "  A  little  more  ! " 

But  we  must  not  tarry  upon  details.  Let 
me  give  you  a  general  view  of  the  islands 


18 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

and  the  forces  that  upheaved  them,  and 
then  outline  two  or  three  scenes  of  won- 
derful sublimity  and  beauty  whose  equal  it 
were  hard  elsewhere  to  find. 

Twelve  islands  compose  the  group 
stretching  in  irregular  order  from  northwest 
to  southeast.  Four  of  them  are  mere 
rocky  ledges ;  four  others  are  small  and 
sparsely  settled,  used  mostly  for  sheep 
pastures.  The  remaining  four  are  import- 
ant, viz.  :  — 

I.  Kaui,  the  oldest  island,  well  settled 
and  with  few  marks  of  volcanic  action. 

II.  Oahu,  on  which  is  the  capital  city, 
Honolulu. 

III.  Maui,  formed  by  the  conjunction  of 
two  immense  extinct  volcanoes,  connected 
by  a  neck  of  land,  and  on  whose  slopes  are 
excellent  sugar  orchards. 

IV.  Hawaii,  the  newest  island,  larger 
than  all  the  rest  together ;  hardly  done,  not 
yet  entirely  cold,  containing  four  thousand 
square  miles  and   formed    by    three   huge 
volcanoes  overlapping  each  other,  Mauna 
Loa,  Mauna  Kea  and  Hualalai. 


19 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

These  four  islands  are  distant  from  each 
other  from  seventy  to  one  hundred  and 
twenty  miles.  On  your  map  of  the  world 
they  are  indicated  by  a  few  pen  points  off 
the  coast  of  South  America.  A  bird's  eye 
view  two  thousand  miles  at  sea  would 
show  a  few  small  bubbles  on  the  fair 
bosom  of  the  broad  Pacific.  Careful 
soundings  have  developed  the  fact  that 
here  is  an  immense  basin  at  the  bottom  of 
the  sea,  from  the  lowest  point  of  which 
these  islands  have  been  uplifted.  At  this 
depression  the  sea  is  three  miles  deep  and  the 
nearest  continent  two  thousand  miles  away. 
It  is  about  latitude  twenty  degrees  north. 

Just  within  the  tropics,  where  sun  and 
sea  combine  their  charms,  an  unseen  hand 
has  thrust  up  from  the  depths  six  thousand 
square  miles  of  Eden  land,  standing  as 
high  into  the  heavens  as  their  roots  go  into 
the  sea;  has  diversified  them  with  precipice 
and  promontory;  has  tossed  and  torn  and 
tormented  them ;  has  desolated  and  deco- 
rated them  perhaps  beyond  any  spot  known 
to  man. 


20 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

Entirely  volcanic  in  origin,  they  have 
been  by  subterranean  throes  uplifted,  boil- 
ing over  and  augmented  by  repeated  fiery 
baptisms  from  within.  Coral  reefs  which 
form  whole  islands  in  the  South  Pacific 
are  only  the  added  fringes  here,  supple- 
menting in  cold  adornment  these  mighty 
outcastings  from  Vulcan's  workshop. 

We  are  on  the  island  of  Maui.  We 
walk  along  the  green  slope  parallel  to  the 
shore  a  mile  away ;  it  looks  but  a  few  rods 
in  the  clear,  soft  air.  Then  suddenly,  just 
before  us  is  a  surprising  " gulch."  Not  a 
stone  or  shrub  warns  us  of  its  existence 
until  it  gapes  wide  at  our  feet.  A  multi- 
tude of  such  there  are,  cutting  up  the  land 
into  strips  and  triangles  in  width  from  a 
few  feet  to  as  many  miles,  all  narrowing 
from  the  sea  toward  the  summit. 

This  Maliko  gulch  is  deep  some  hun- 
dreds of  feet,  precipitous  but  green  on  its 
floor  as  a  garden  of  the  gods ;  sheltered 
from  all  winds,  hot  with  the  tropical  sun, 
it  is  luxuriant  with  tangled  vegetation  and 
threaded  by  a  singing  river  that  revels  and 


21 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

plunges  in  its  joyous  journey  to  the  sea. 
Rainbows  are  there  like  a  necklace  for  the 
gods,  —  bows  completing  the  circle,  from 
our  feet  over  the  great  aureole,  investing 
us  wholly  in  its  glory.  Cascades,  like 
fountains  of  pearls  and  snow  wreaths,  leap 
the  precipice,  and  ferns  are  there  of  exquisite 
beauty,  in  variety  a  hundred  or  more,  in 
size  from  my  fingernail  to  trees  thirty  feet 
high  and  as  broad,  with  a  fronde-stalk  that 
can  sustain  a  man's  weight,  or  matching  in 
fineness  of  texture  the  fabric  wrought  upon 
her  pillow  by  a  lace  maker.  There  are 
several  varieties  found  only  here  in  all  the 
world,  and  under  one  of  the  tree  ferns,  three 
of  us  on  horseback  huddled  and  found 
shelter  from  a  sudden  passing  shower. 

In  the  heart  of  West  Maui  we  stand 
within  an  amphitheatre  which,  with  its 
needle-summits,  its  lofty,  verdant  ridges  — 
homes  of  the  wild  goats  white  against  the 
sky,  —  its  congregated  peaks  and  fairy 
waterfalls,  its  soft  bridal-veils  of  gossamer 
cloud  and  shining  fronts  of  turrets  that 
gleam  through  trailing  mists  over  green 


22 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

crags  moist  with  ferns,  piled  up  pinnacles 
basking  in  the  thin  blue  haze, — creates  a 
scene  more  enchanting  than  any  Aladdin's 
palace,  hardly  seeming  to  belong  to  earth. 

But  we  may  not  tarry  in  Wailuku 
Valley,  fascinating  as  it  is,  for  there  stands 
Haleakala,  the  largest  of  all  this  world's 
craters,  and  we  must  climb  the  grand  slope 
and  look  down  into  the  sublime  depths  of 
this  giant  lava  bowl,  the  sight  of  a  lifetime. 
A  small  party  mounted  on  horses  or  mules, 
started  up  the  long,  steep  ascent,  ten  thou- 
sand feet  in  one  almost  unbroken  climb. 
It  was  high  noon  and  was  raining  violently 
when  we  set  out  and  the  air  was  thick  and 
murky.  A  few  thousand  feet  elevation 
took  us  above  the  clouds,  and  we  looked 
down  upon  the  driving  mists  on  which  the 
sunlight  played  in  ever  changing  variety  of 
tint  and  shade. 

Rugged  and  rocky,  the  trail  winds  over 
old  lava,  beds  of  ashes,  among  low  bushes, 
growing  more  barren  and  forbidding  as  we 
ascend.  Wild  turkeys  hide  in  the  bushes, 
wild  goats  scud  over  the  rocks,  and  the  day 


23 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

wears  wearily  on  as  the  desolation  of  that 
dread  summit  draws  near. 

A  few  minutes  before  the  sun  went 
down  we  stood  upon  the  craggy  edge  of 
the  silent  abyss.  Already  the  deep  night 
shadows  lay  heavy  within.  We  tied  our 
horses,  panting  in  the  thin  air,  to  a  jutting 
lava-crag,  removed  their  saddles  for  our 
pillows,  hastily  gleaned  some  twigs  of 
bushes  and  tufts  of  dry  grass  for  a  spark  of 
fire  and  looked  around.  It  is  almost  sun- 
set; behind  us  is  the  huge  crater,  ragged 
in  outline,  a  half  mile  deep,  seven  miles  in 
its  shortest  diameter,  twenty-seven  miles 
around  its  outer  edge,  —  large  enough  to 
spread  the  city  of  New  York  from  the 
Battery  to  Central  Park  upon  its  floor  with 
room  to  spare,  and  diversified  on  its  bottom 
with  red  lava-cones  from  fifty  to  five  hun- 
dred feet  high.  The  cold  night  wind  puffs 
up  in  fitful  gusts  out  of  the  pit  —  we  are 
ten  thousand  feet  in  the  air  —  and  far 
across  the  sea  loom  up  in  sapphire  blue 
the  lofty  outlines  of  Mauna  Loa  and 
Mauna  Kea  on  distant  Hawaii. 


24 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

Around  and  in  front  far  below  us  are 
oceans  of  clouds  whose  fleecy  folds  and 
eiderdown  depths  seem  fathomless ;  fluffy, 
enfolding  upon  folds,  light  as  air  and  white 
as  snow ;  here  rounded  and  domed,  with 
lofty  masses  projecting  like  monumental 
shafts,  —  glaciers  and  grey  pinnacled 
heights.  Thin,  delicate  threads  as  of 
white  silk  fairy-spun,  lifted  themselves  in 
passing  currents,  were  shone  upon,  —  and 
vanished.  The  scene  is  billowy  and 
beautiful  beyond  description,  and  as  the 
sun  goes  down  each  rounded  mass  has 
caught  the  glory,  and  the  whole  has  be- 
come "  a  sea  of  pure  gold,  as  it  were 
transparent  glass." 

The  light  quickly  fades,  —  twilights  are 
short  at  that  latitude  —  golden  summits 
deepen  into  red,  then  crimson  and  violet, 
till  the  shadows  fall.  The  crater  is 
solemn  in  the  dark,  —  bottomless  now,  — 
while  down  between  the  hosts  of  cloud- 
battalions  without,  stretches  the  darkening 
slope  of  Haleakala  far  out  into  the  deep 
blue  sea,  marked  by  a  line  of  snowy  surf 


25 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

which  breaks  over  the  coral  reef,  and  lies 
like  a  plume  at  her  feet.  From  sea  to 
summit,  from  the  surf  to  the  stars  that 
look  down  upon  the  scene,  the  name  of 
1  GOD "  appears,  traced  in  sublimest 
hieroglyphics,  and  we  lie  down  to  broken 
slumbers  on  the  crater's  edge,  committing 
our  souls  unto  "Him  who  maketh  the 
clouds  His  chariot;  Who  walketh  upon 
the  wings  of  the  wind." 

In  the  early  chill  before  the  dawning 
the  old  moon  rose  and  looked  upon  us; 
Venus  came  from  her  nightly  bath  in  the 
sea,  and  we  waited,  wakeful  and  shivering, 
for  the  sunrise.  It  came  soon  after  the 
first  streak  of  horizon  light,  and  with  it 
new  wonders.  We  looked  that  morning 
into  the  great  crater  filled  to  the  brim  with 
snow-white  clouds,  around  which  every 
broken  line  of  the  crater's  edge  was  distinct 
and  dark,  in  wonder  of  contrast. 

As  the  sun  smiled  into  the  scene  the 
cloud  expanded ;  one  little  whirl  scurried 
over  the  edge  and  down  like  a  reconnoiter- 
ing  scout,  —  then  others  followed  close, 


26 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

and  presently,  compelled  by  unseen  force 
of  moving  currents,  as  if  under  silent  orders 
the  whole  seven-mile  procession  crowded 
and  tumbled  tumultuously  over,  rushed 
down  the  slope  till  caught  up  by  the  trade 
winds  which  gathered  and  strewed  them 
off  in  horizontal  strata  of  cloud,  buttress- 
ing the  mountain. 

The  huge  crater  was  clear  once  more, 
emptied  in  an  hour.  It  had  been  bathed 
by  the  night  cloud,  and  now,  dried  by  the 
sun,  the  profound  abyss  in  awful  solitude 
remained  as  we  bade  it  a  long  good-by 
and  left  it  alone  with  God,  its  Maker. 
She  is  cold  now, — this  old  volcano,  —  for 
long  before  the  memory  of  man  she  had 
burned  herself  out,  and  this  is  her  tomb ! 
And  once  in  a  while  God  spreads  the 
fleeces  of  the  heavens  about,  lifts  high  such 
shafts  of  monumental  whiteness,  and  tints 
them  with  the  pencil  of  the  setting  sun 
that  He  may  show  to  man  the  glory  of 
His  handiwork ! 

Now  we  hasten  to  the  beach  and  take  the 
steamer  for  Hilo,  for  we  are  to  drive  away 


27 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

the  chill  of  a  night  with  the  dead  volcano  by 
a  night  and  a  day  at  the  fires  of  Kilauea, 
the  largest  ever-active  volcano  in  the  world ; 
others  have  mightier  spasms,  and  rest,  but 
Kilauea  never  rests,  though  varying  much 
in  the  degree  of  its  activity. 

Twenty-six  hours'  steaming  land  us  at 
Hilo,  and  we  are  soon  mounted  for  twenty- 
nine  miles  of  hard  riding  over  fields  of 
modern  lava  whose  rigid  billows  make 
wretched  work  with  horses'  feet  and  riders' 
nerves.  It  was  my  honor  to  be  the  guest 
of  a  most  distinguished  missionary,  u  Father 
Coan,"  who  loaned  me  his  white  horse 
and  saddle  and  waved  me  his  "  Aloha " 
as  we  passed  out  from  his  hospitable  gate. 

Through  the  suburbs  of  fair  Hilo,  knee- 
deep  with  luxuriant  grass,  through  three 
miles  of  tropical  jungle  where  vines  and 
trees  and  ferns  conspire  to  shut  out  every 
ray  of  sunlight,  yielding  a  climate  as  moist 
and  sweltering  as  the  hottest  of  hothouses, 
our  journey  led.  Then  began  vast  areas 
of  lava-beds  like  congealed  billows  of  a 
stormy  sea,  —  up-and-down  and  down-and- 


28 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

up  all  the  livelong  day,  relieved  only  by 
patches  of  ferns  till  nightfall,  when  lo  !  the 
burning  pit  glared  into  the  sky-line  like  a 
conflagration  and  the  blazing  fire  on  the 
hearth  of  a  friendly  inn  showed  that  we 
were  well  up  in  the  cool  altitudes.  Tow- 
ering there  above  us  stands  Mauna  Loa,  a 
gigantic  lava-cone  fourteen  thousand  feet 
high,  on  whose  sloping  flank,  four  thou- 
sand feet  in  elevation,  is  Kilauea,  on  the 
margin  of  which  we  make  our  bed  for  a 
night's  rest.  The  crater  is  three  miles  in 
diameter  and  from  five  hundred  to  one 
thousand  feet  deep.  It  stands  there  in  the 
night  and  seems  to  flash  the  red  light  of 
hell  into  the  face  of  heaven  ! 

We  slept  on  the  crater's  edge  and  my 
room  glowed  all  night  with  the  fires  of  the 
pit.  From  my  pillow  I  could  gaze  into 
the  glowing  sky,  and  by  lifting  my  head 
look  down  into  the  lake  of  fiery,  liquid 
lava.  The  ground  around  the  crater  is 
full  of  cracks  through  which  steam  and 
sulphurous  fumes  pour  forth,  hot  and 
stifling.  Over  one  such  crevasse  stands  a 


29 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

rude  hut  in  which  I  was  recommended  to 
take  a  steam  bath  to  cure  my  lameness  from 
the  unaccustomed  horseback  ride.  I  con- 
sented. Being  seated  within  a  large  box 
built  over  the  lava  crack,  in  a  short  moment 
I  shouted  a  cry  of  alarm,  for  it  was  hot !  !  ! 
We  were  very  near  the  headquarters  of 
fire  and  there  was  no  damper!  Instantly 
an  attendant,  fully  prepared  for  such  an 
emergency,  drenched  me  unceremoniously 
with  a  full  pail  of  cold  water,  to  my  great 
surprise  and  relief.  The  steam  was 
checked,  and  I  confess  that,  between  heat 
and  cold,  I  did  forget  my  lameness,  and, 
for  the  moment,  everything  else  —  save 
how  to  get  out !  A  good  night's  rest  in 
the  friendly  inn,  furnished  with  a  most 
readable  record  by  distinguished  visitors 
of  their  individual  experiences  in  the  crater, 
refreshed  us  for  the  morning's  exciting 
climb  down  the  ragged  trail  and  across  to 
the  edge  of  the  pit  of  fire. 

We  clambered  over  the  ragged  ledges 
into  the  crater  with  alpenstock  and  guide ; 
tramped  over  miles  of  heated,  crackling 


30 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

billows  with  sulphurous  fumes  puffing  up 
from  the  fissures.  The  red,  fiery  flow  was 
but  a  few  inches  beneath  our  feet  through 
the  hissing  crust  cracked  and  gaping, 
and  with  strange  fascination  we  thrust  our 
canes  into  the  stream  and  brought  them 
up  ablaze  and  dripping  with  molten  fire. 
Small,  sluggish  streams  of  hot  lava  creep 
over  the  bottom  of  the  crater,  cutting  off 
the  trail  and  sending  one  often  on  long 
detours  to  get  from  side  to  side.  We 
tramped  three  miles  on  returning,  though 
half  that  distance  had  taken  us  to  the  pit 
in  the  morning.  Small  lava  streams  may 
be  safely  traversed  in  twenty-four  hours 
after  they  cease  to  flow,  but  it  will  scorch 
ones  feet  and  face.  A  sudden  shower  wet 
nothing  but  «j,  for  each  raindrop  hissed  and 
burst  into  steam  as  it  struck  the  hot  lava. 
Here  and  there  were  handfuls  of  a  tow-like 
substance,  real  spun  glass,  blown  into  shreds 
by  exploding  gases,  and  called  u  Pele's 
hair ;  "  she  was  the  goddess  of  Kilauea. 

Now,  at  last,  we  have  nearly   crossed 
the  perilous,  burning  basin,  and  stand  on 


31 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

the  precarious  ledge  that  holds  a  lake  of 
fire  and  brimstone,  ever  surging  and  hiss- 
ing, a  half  mile  long  and  nearly  as  wide. 
The  surface  was  several  feet  below  us, 
black  and  sullen  with  here  and  there  glow- 
ing spots  of  red.  It  seemed  to  surge  and 
swell  and  recede,  restless  as  a  tormented 
spirit;  then,  sudden  as  a  thunder-bolt,  a 
mighty  mass  of  molten  lava  like  blood  and 
fire  commingled,  burst  through  the  crack- 
ling crust  aloft  and  fell  in  clots  and 
splashes  into  the  lake  and  on  the  cliff 
where  we  were  standing.  We  ingloriously 
retreated,  our  kanaka  guide  catching  one 
fiery  clot  adown  his  back  tracing  a  red  scar 
as  it  went.  Then,  as  if  that  were  only  a 
signal  gun,  billows  break  along  the  shore ; 
acres  of  stony  crust  are  tipped  on  edge, 
engulfed  by  the  devouring  deep,  —  melted, 
and  vomited  forth,  and  shredded  and  blown 
to  atoms,  amid  roar  as  of  stormy  breakers. 
The  terrible  fiery  spasms  come  and  go,  and 
swash  and  dash  in  horrible  detonations. 
No  mortal  can  predict  its  next  move.  It 
settled  fifteen  feet  and  rose  twenty  within 


32 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

a  minute.  It  started,  in  a  resistless  cur- 
rent, as  if  it  would  empty  itself  through 
the  right  wall,  regardless  of  the  impassable 
barrier ;  through  some  subterranean  pas- 
sage it  found  vent,  but  still  was  full.  A 
hundred  tongues  of  fire  licked  the  air,  and 
settled  back  again.  It  seemed  a  place  of 
demons,  as  if  we  gazed  into  the  bottomless 
pit,  fraught  with  all  the  horrors  of  Dante 
or  Fra  Angelico. 

But  this  Kilauea  is  only  a  tiny  breathing 
hole  on  the  flank  of  the  great  volcano.  This 
confusion  of  fiery  throes  is  but  the  unquiet 
breath  of  the  sleeping  giant !  When 
Mauna  Loa  bursts  forth  from  its  summit 
crater  and  the  powers  of  omnipotence 
bestir  themselves  all  nature  seems  to  ago- 
nize in  pain. 

In  the  great  eruption  of  1868,  a  stream 
of  fiery  lava  burst  from  that  lofty  summit 
and  shot  a  thousand  feet  into  the  air  a 
fountain  two  hundred  feet  in  diameter, 
which  continued  flowing  for  three  solid 
weeks  unabated.  So  brilliant  were  those 
fireworks  that  one  could  easily  read  the 


33 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

finest  print  out  of  doors  at  any  time  of  night 
at  Hilo,  distant  full  forty  miles  from  the 
summit  crater,  and  the  houses  of  that  city 
seemed  as  light  as  day  with  the  red  shine 
of  the  glowing  lava  painting  the  window 
sash  upon  the  floor. 

Oh  !  the  earthquakes  and  the  terror  of 
that  eruption !  For  seven  months  the 
destructive  stream  flowed  on,  devasting 
hundreds  of  square  miles  of  Eden  land, 
until  it  built  a  lofty  promontory  far  out 
into  the  sea  and  greatly  changed  the  con- 
tour of  the  island.  Then  it  rested;  the 
giant  slumbers  still,  only  now  and  then  at 
irregular  intervals  of  some  twelve  years 
more  or  less,  erupting  from  its  summit 
crater  a  mighty  volume  of  fiery  lava  with 
spectacular  effect :  meanwhile  it  quietly 
awaits  the  bidding  of  its  Creator, 

"  Who  looketh  on  the  earth  and  it  trembleth  ; 
He  toucheth  the  mountains,  and  they  smoke  !  " 


34 


HAWAIIAN    HISTORY,    CHARACTER 
AND  HABITS  OF  LIFE 

THE  authentic  history  of  the  Hawaiian 
Islands  begins  with  the  advent  of 
our  American  missionaries  in  1820. 

The  group  was  discovered  by  Captain 
James  Cook,  of  England  in  1773,  and  was 
named  after  Lord  Sandwich  of  the  British 
admiralty,  though  the  natives  never  took 
kindly  to  the  name,  "Sandwich  Islands." 

On  a  subsequent  visit  Captain  Cook  lost 
a  boat  and  went  ashore  with  ten  men  to 
recover  it  or  to  get  satisfaction.  A  fight 
ensued  in  which  the  captain  was  killed,  and 
was  commonly  reported  to  have  been  eaten. 
This  is  strongly  denied  by  the  natives,  for 
they  never  were  cannibals,  though  they  did 
offer  human  sacrifices  to  their  idols  on  occa- 
sion. A  Hawaiian  explained  to  me  that  the 
warriors  cut  out  the  captain's  heart  as  the 
custom  was,  and  hung  it  on  a  tree ;  other 
natives  seeing  it  there  thought  it  a  pig's 
heart  of  which  they  are  very  fond,  and  ate 


35 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

the  human  heart  unwittingly,  a  doubtful 
compliment  to  the  captain.  A  monument 
marks  the  spot  of  the  unfortunate  and  ill- 
advised  struggle. 

Captain  Cook  estimated  the  population 
of  the  islands  at  four  hundred  thousand 
souls,  which  was  doubtless  an  exaggeration. 
The  first  official  census  was  taken  in  1832 
and  showed  one  hundred  and  thirty 
thousand,  which  has  now  dwindled  to 
less  than  thirty  thousand  of  the  true  native 
Hawaiian  stock. 

European  diseases  introduced  by  sailors, 
had  swept  off  half  the  inhabitants  before 
the  first  permanent  missionary  arrived. 
Diseases  which  are  comparatively  harmless 
among  us,  such  as  measles,  chicken  pox 
and  the  like,  are  usually  fatal  to  a  native 
Hawaiian.  They  are  mere  children,  with 
no  good  judgment  about  treatment  or  reme- 
dies when  ill.  It  is  nothing  uncommon 
for  a  native  to  put  on  all  his  clothes  on  a 
hot  night  in  a  close  unventilated  hut  and 
sleep  in  them,  with  the  whole  family  in 
one  room.  A  friend  once  ordered  a  native 


36 


Captain  Cook's  Monument,  Hawaii. 


CAPTAIN  COOK'S  MONUMENT 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

with  a  terrible  cough  to  apply  a  mustard 
plaster  to  his  chest.  A  few  hours  later  he 
found  his  patient  sitting  in  a  draft,  entirely 
unclothed  save  for  this  large  mustard 
plaque  some  twelve  inches  too  low  down  ! 
He  died  the  next  day. 

Leprosy  has  been  a  fearful  scourge,  and 
still  is,  though  government  measures  of 
seclusion  have  done  much  to  ameliorate 
conditions  there.  The  western  end  of  the 
island  of  Molokai,  inaccessible  except  by 
sea  on  account  of  abrupt  cliffs,  is  set  apart 
as  a  "leper  settlement"  and  all  infected 
persons  are  transported  thither  for  life. 
About  eight  hundred  were  colonized  there 
in  comfortable  quarters  and  under  medical 
attendance,  —  unfortunates  indeed  but  well 
cared  for  as  wards  of  the  government. 
Father  Damien,  in  the  spirit  of  noble  self- 
sacrifice,  has  cared  for  them  spiritually. 

The  traditional  story  of  Hawaii  is  full 
of  romance  and  may  be  told  as  follows :  — 

Until  1795,  the  eight  inhabited  islands 
were  governed  by  independent  savage 
chiefs  living  in  constant  hostility  to  each 


37 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

other.  On  Hawaii,  the  largest  island, 
were  six  hostile  tribes.  On  the  west  end 
of  the  island  was  the  strongest  chief  whose 
name  will  be  spoken  with  profound  rever- 
ence as  long  as  a  single  native  Hawaiian 
lives.  It  was  Kamehameha  Nui,  —  "  the 
great,"  often  called  "The  Napoleon  of  the 
Pacific."  Having  germinated  the  microbe 
of  conquest,  he  first  subdued  the  tribes  on 
Hawaii  and  then  drilled  his  subjects  for 
the  perilous  assault  upon  the  lesser  islands. 
The  transit  of  the  channels  was  no  less 
fatal  than  a  battle ;  and  an  old  native  told 
me  how  this  invincible  warrior  would  take 
out  to  sea,  a  fleet  of  transport  canoes,  order 
every  canoe  upset,  every  man  overboard,  and 
then,  at  his  word  of  command,  each  canoe 
was  righted  and  its  crew  re-embarked. 
Thus  he  trained  his  army  for  emergencies 
on  the  wave,  and  generations  of  fighting  had 
made  them  strong  for  the  fray.  Ten  thou- 
sand men  he  took  across  the  channel 
seventy  miles  wide  to  Maui,  in  tottling 
canoes  and  landed  them  ready  for  battle. 
Severest  fighting  followed,  until  he  had 


38 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

driven  the  army  of  Maui,  inch  by  inch,  up 
into  the  fairy  valley  of  West  Maui,  then 
drew  his  lines  closer  and  closer  about 
them,  till  they  clustered  like  bees  upon  the 
steep  sides  of  those  needle-like  shafts,  and 
there  he  spilled  their  blood  to  the  last  drop ; 
so  that  crystal  stream,  born  of  a  thousand 
waterfalls,  flowed  out  of  the  valley  red  with 
man's  blood  to  the  sea,  and  ever  after  it 
bore  the  name  "Wailuku,"  "water  of 
destruction." 

Next,  this  matchless  Kamehameha  van- 
quished Oahu,  drove  its  fleeing  warriors  up 
the  beautiful  Nuaana  Avenue  slope  and 
over  the  precipice  a  thousand  feet  high, 
and  before  their  groanings  ceased  he  had 
taken  possession  of  the  island.  All  the  other 
islands  soon  yielded  to  the  inevitable  and 
the  kingdom  of  Hawaii  was  established  as 
a  unit  under  its  one  victorious  ruler. 

But  this  king  was  a  man  as  well  as  a 
soldier  and  distinguished  his  reign  by  won- 
derful deeds  for  a  heathen.  He  put  an  end 
to  human  sacrifices,  encouraged  agricul- 
ture, appointed  governors,  enacted  laws 


39 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

against  theft  and  murder,  purchased  vessels 
from  foreigners  and  established  commercial 
relations  with  accessible  nations.  Having 
heard  of  Christianity  and  the  greatness  of 
the  Christian  nations,  he  petitioned  England 
to  send  Christian  teachers  to  the  islands, 
that  his  nation  also  "  might  become  great." 
He  died  before  the  Gospel  reached  his 
shores,  —  dying  as  he  had  lived,  in  the 
faith  of  his  fathers  and  saying  his  last 
prayers  to  his  red-feathered  god  Kukaili- 
moku.  I  looked  in  sadness  upon  the 
crumbling  idol  temple  on  western  Hawaii, 
the  building  of  which  was  his  last  act  of 
idolatrous  architecture,  and  at  its  dedication 
eleven  young  men  drawn  by  lot  from  his 
noblest  subjects  were  sacrificed.  Yet  this 
grand  old  warrior  about  to  die  said,  "These 
are  the  gods  I  worship  ;  whether  I  do  right 
or  wrong  I  do  not  know  !  "  He  seems  a 
transition  character  whose  sunburnt  face 
almost  caught  the  shine  of  the  coming 
light  which  was  to  brighten  the  story  of  his 
race  for  eternity.  He  died  in  1819,  during 
those  very  months  in  which  our  mission- 


40 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

aries  were  rounding  Cape  Horn  to  carry 
the  Gospel  to  his  realm. 

This  man's  successor,  Kamehameha  II, 
abolished  by  statute  the  system  of  idolatry 
and  cordially  welcomed  our  missionaries. 
Marvellous  transformation  of  Providence  ! 
Instead  of  finding  a  nation  of  idolaters  as 
they  anticipated,  they  found  a  people 
religiously  unmoored,  their  idols  dis- 
honored, waiting  for  some  unknown,  better 
thing,  and  the  missionaries  brought  it  to 
them.  Kamehameha  II  and  his  queen 
both  died  of  the  measles  in  London  while 
there  on  a  visit  to  study  the  principles  of 
English  civilization  and  progress. 

The  first  work  of  the  missionaries  was 
to  reduce  to  writing  the  simple  native  lan- 
guage. It  has  but  twelve  letters,  is  musical 
and  liquid,  and  every  syllable  ends  with  a 
vowel  which  gives  the  effect  of  an  always 
open  mouth  in  speaking.  It  is  not  Hon- 
o-lu-lu  but  Ho-no-lu-lu.  That  simple 
rule  is  a  help  to  its  pronunciation.  Natives 
speak  with  great  rapidity  (though  the 
speech  of  a  foreigner  always  seems  swift) 


41 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

—  and  their  soft,  mellow  tones,  especially 
in  singing,  are  plaintive  and  wonderfully 
weird  and  sweet. 

As  samples  of  common  Hawaiian  words 
I  recall  Waipio,  waioli,  Haleakala,  Kahu- 
lui,  Lapahoihoi,  ohia,  ohelo,  kukui,  lauhala, 
pilikia,  aloha.  When  I  offered  a  native 
lady  a  fan  she  declined,  saying :  u  O'  oli 
muckee,  muckee ! "  That  is,  "  No,  I 
thank  you  ! "  or  words  to  that  effect.  A 
few  hundred  volumes  have  been  translated 
into  Hawaiian,  and  Honolulu  has  a  wide- 
awake Hawaiian  newspaper. 

Let  me  explain  the  use  of  words  in  a 
tongue  so  simple  and  limited  as  this  is. 
The  word  "  pilikia "  for  instance,  means 
"trouble."  "It  is  pilikia,"  unfortunate,  or 
"  I  have  pilikia,"  either  a  noun  or  an  adjec- 
tive or  an  adverb.  It  applies  to  the  loss  of 
a  horse-shoe,  the  death  of  a  king,  or  to 
any  trouble,  great  or  small.  "  Aloha  ! "  is 
"Good  morning,"  or  "Welcome,"  or 
"  Good  bye,"  or  "  My  love  to  you ;  "  it  is 
greeting  or  farewell  or  simply  affection, 
and  if  used  with  "nui,"  "Aloha  nui,"  it  is 


42 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

intensified  and  made  superlative.  Instead 
of  describing  directions  as  North  or  South 
they  oftener  say  "  makai "  "  toward  the 
sea"  or  "mauka"  "toward  the  mountain," 
for  each  island  is  one  or  more  mountains 
rising  from  the  sea. 

Five  kings  successively  bore  the  name 
of  Kamehameha  and  the  dynasty  passed 
out  in  1872.  "Kalakaua"  (nicknamed 
"  Calico  ")  was  elected  in  1874,  for,  as  the 
dying  king  declined  his  royal  right  to  name 
his  successor  and  the  strain  of  royal  blood 
was  about  equal  in  the  veins  of  Kalakaua 
and  of  "  Queen  Emma  "  whom  the  people 
preferred,  there  was  a  mighty  struggle  for 
votes  in  that  homeopathic  kingdom.  When 
it  was  announced  that  the  king  was  elected 
there  was  some  mob  violence  and  some 
blood  shed,  but  a  little  squad  of  marines 
from  a  United  States  vessel  in  the  harbor, 
dispersed  the  insurgents  and  restored  civil 
order. 

It  was  my  privilege  to  converse  with 
the  king  on  the  Long  Wharf  at  Honolulu, 
while  the  Royal  Band  was  playing  "  Hail 


43 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

Columbia"  in  honor  of  Claus  Spreckles 
who  was  embarking  for  home,  and  the 
"Zelandia"  was  hauling  her  cables  for 
the  start  to  San  Francisco. 

Kalakaua  was  a  broad-shouldered,  brown 
man  approaching  sixty,  well  educated,  trav- 
eled, social  and  agreeable,  spoke  excellent 
English  and  was  as  "  genial  as  a  politician 
in  election  time." 

Later,  his  reign  grew  somewhat  stormy, 
and  after  several  years  on  the  throne  he 
undertook  a  public  ceremony  of  coronation, 
which  was  as  unpopular  as  it  was  ridicu- 
lous. He  had  already  reigned  ten  years. 
He  sent  illuminated  invitations  to  all 
governments  of  the  earth,  expending  sixty 
thousand  dollars  in  his  preparations.  No 
one  came  but  a  few  Japanese  officials,  and 
the  king's  pride  was  wounded. 

But  the  functions  of  a  limited  monarchy 
were  carried  forward  by  numerous  titled 
officials  in  that  little  "teapot  kingdom" 
as  in  a  nation  of  millions,  and  with  all 
gravity  they  passed  most  solemn  statutes. 
For  instance :  their  army  consisted  of 


44 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

seventy  uniformed  police,  all  told ;  their 
artillery,  six  "four-pounders,"  unmanned, 
standing  on  "  Punch  Bowl,"  a  round  crater 
overlooking  the  city ;  not  a  keel  of  theirs 
floated  a  gun,  and  yet,  with  due  solemnity, 
they  discussed  and  passed,  years  ago,  a 
resolution  of  "  non-intervention  "  in  the 
Turko-Russian  war. 

Their  Senate  consisted  of  fourteen  and 
their  lower  House  of  twenty-eight  men 
chosen  by  popular  vote,  and  they  sat 
generally  in  joint  session,  once  in  two 
years.  "  How  long  are  your  biennial 
sessions?"  I  asked  the  king.  "  O,  from 
two  to  four  months,"  he  replied,  "  accord- 
ing to  their  obstinacy  !  " 

As  the  Assembly  was  part  native  and 
part  American  all  speeches  and  discussions 
in  either  tongue  were  interpreted  into  the 
other,  the  interpreter  closely  following 
each  speaker,  and  the  audience  looking  at 
the  one  they  understood  best.  A  man  to 
be  a  voter  must  have  an  income  of  seventy- 
five  dollars  a  year  and  be  able  to  read  and 
write.  I  spent  some  pleasant  hours  in  the 


45 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

Assembly  room  and  heard  some  really  fine 
native  speakers.  They  were  natural  orators 
excelling  in  expressive  gestures  and  elo- 
quent intonation. 

Honolulu  had  no  municipal  government 
but  all  improvements  were  financed  by  a 
general  tax  on  the  kingdom,  which  had 
that  usual  appendage  of  civilized  countries, 
a  considerable  national  debt.  (Of  course 
all  this  is  changed  since  the  United  States 
came  into  control,  and  Honolulu  has  be- 
come really  in  many  respects  an  Oriental 
city,  swarming  with  many  thousands  of 
Chinese  and  Japanese  toilers  and  capital- 
ists.) 

Under  the  old,  royal  regime,  educa- 
tion was  compulsory,  good  schools  being 
provided  by  the  native  government,  and 
all  acquired  a  common  school  education, 
while  many  became  proficient,  especially 
in  mathematics,  to  which  they  take  more 
kindly  than  to  literature.  Geography,  I 
imagine,  came  hard,  for  I  invited  a  rather 
bright  and  wealthy  half-white,  a  prosperous 
citizen  of  Maui,  to  visit  me  in  Connecti- 


46 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

cut.  "I  will,"  said  he.  "When  may  I 
expect  you  ? "  I  asked.  "  Well,"  said  he, 
"  I  shall  spend  the  winter  in  New  York 
and  Oregon  and  about  there,  and  go  to 
Connecticut  in  the  Spring."  He  never 
came  !  This  man  lost  nineteen  children, 
his  fortune  and  his  character,  and  later  was 
a  prisoner  in  the  chain-gang,  alas  !  Which 
reminds  me,  that  intermarriages  of  natives 
with  Americans  are  often  happy  and 
fruitful,  but  the  second  generation  either 
become  sterile  or  die  young.  Intermar- 
riages between  Hawaiian  and  Chinese  or 
Japanese,  however,  are  prolific  and  con- 
genial. 

In  addition  to  the  common  school  sys- 
tem, there  was  early  established  by  private 
enterprise  at  Punahou,  near  Honolulu,  an 
excellent  college  of  high  grade  whose  grad- 
uates have  numbered  many  natives  from 
the  class  of  noblemen,  as  well  as  the  white 
children  of  missionaries  and  others. 

The  Hawaiian  people  differ  widely  in 
character  and  habits  from  civilized  folk  of 
higher  latitudes.  With  honorable  excep- 


47 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

tions  they  are  naturally  indolent  and  easy- 
going, generally  lacking  those  heroic  traits 
which  are  the  glory  of  New  England. 
Stern,  rock-bound  coasts  and  stormy  skies, 
with  soil  thin  and  climate  severe  have  made 
the  nation  that  was  born  on  Plymouth  Rock 
one  memorable  December  day,  energetic 
and  flush  with  manly  vigor ;  but  the  Pacific 
waves  languidly  lave  the  coral  reefs  of  her 
sunny  isles,  tropical  suns  smile  upon  those 
water-lilies  of  land  all  the  year  round, 
sheltered  gulches  and  deep  volcanic  wash- 
ings produce  a  wealth  of  edible  vegetation 
and  the  balmy  air  soothes  to  a  dreamy  life 
more  of  grace  and  ease  than  strength.  So 
it  is  no  wonder  that  men  are  lazy  and 
women  laughing  and  fat  through  all  their 
days.  At  our  latitude  we  are  compelled 
to  be  provident  and  to  eat  our  bread  by  the 
sweat  of  our  brow ;  but  how  much  of  our 
boasted  diligence  is  born  of  our  climate  ! 

There  is  a  native  legend  that  when  Satan 
fell  from  heaven  he  landed  in  the  Garden 
of  Eden  with  such  force  that  he  drove 
through  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  globe 


48 


TYPICAL  HAWAIIAN  GIRL 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

the  spots  on  which  he  struck ;  these  spots 
of  Eden  land,  are  the  Hawaiian  Islands. 

Then  it  is  no  wonder  that  they  return  to 
the  habits  of  our  Eden  father.  Not  even  a 
fig-leaf  is  needed  for  comfort  in  that  charm- 
ing, soft  air;  why  work  for  a  useless 
wardrobe  ?  The  simplest  roof  to  shed  rain 
is  enough ;  why  toil  to  build  anything  more 
elaborate  or  substantial?  Ask  no  fire  for 
its  warmth,  for  sun  and  sea  have  created  a 
perfect  climate  all  the  year  round.  Fruits 
mature  every  month,  supporters  of  life  are 
abundant  in  the  woods  and  why  should 
not  men  live  at  their  ease?  The  sterner 
characters  indigenous  to  colder  countries 
cannot  thrive  in  that  dreamy  clime.  A 
jolly,  careless  people  they  are,  everlastingly 
good-natured,  simple  as  children,  and  so 
social  that  whole  families  will  go  visiting 
their  neighbors  and  stay  till  everything  is 
eaten  up  and  then  move  on  to  pastures  new. 

The  climate  which  varies  with  altitude 
is  wonderfully  equable.  The  extremes  at 
Honolulu  for  twelve  years  were  but  thirty- 
seven  degrees  apart,  with  an  average  of 


49 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

seventy-four  degrees.  At  Lahaina  for  ten 
years  the  lowest  point  touched  was  fifty- 
four  and  the  highest  eighty-six;  less  change 
in  ten  years  than  New  England  can  some- 
times show  in  half  a  day.  Even  New 
England  blood  begins  to  slow  down  under 
that  influence,  and  a  real  Yankee  soon 
acquires  a  native's  gait.  Not  an  iron  rail 
had  been  laid  or  a  locomotive  whistle  heard 
in  1878;  but  soon  after  that  Maui  had  a 
train  that  would  stop  anywhere  for  a 
woman  with  a  basket,  and  now  the  tele- 
phone transmits  "  Aloha  nui  "  or  "  O'  oli 
muckee,  muckee  !  "  as  readily  as  a  Yankee's 
"  Hello ! " 

Regular  inter-island  steamship  lines  are 
operating,  and  one  morning  we  were  called 
at  two  o'clock,  and  started  a  half  hour  later 
to  cross  the  Neck  between  Maui  and  West 
Maui,  seven  miles,  in  an  express  wagon. 
We  arrived  soon  after  three  to  catch  the 
steamer  which  heaved  into  sight  at  half 
past  eight.  Time  is  of  no  account  to  a 
Hawaiian  :  but  such  traits  are  the  result  of 
climate  as  truly  as  their  color  is. 


50 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

As  you  may  have  already  surmised,  they 
are  not  the  best  of  workmen,  and  severe 
discipline  is  often  needed  to  make  an 
ordinary  kanaka  do  a  good  day's  work  for 
his  master  according  to  Northern  standards. 

With  few  exceptions  the  natives  seem 
not  capable  of  managing  a  business  of  much 
magnitude,  and  all  important  matters  of 
finance  are  in  the  hands  of  white  capital- 
ists. Physically  the  Hawaiian  is  well 
developed,  fully  equal  in  size  to  the  aver- 
age American.  Nobles  and  women  in 
mature  life  tend  toward  obesity.  To  be 
large  and  fleshy  is  esteemed  a  gift  of  God, 
and  in  elections  the  man  of  largest  size  has 
a  decided  advantage,  so  they  are  sure  of 
having  "  great  men  "  in  office.  Their  color 
is  dark  brown,  features  large,  faces  round, 
and  teeth  white  and  sound  even  to  old  age. 

They  have  a  universal  custom  of  sitting. 
u  Mine  host  "  in  Honolulu  had  the  family 
washing  done  by  two  native  women  and  it 
took  four  days.  They  brought  more  or 
less  children  from  day  to  day,  and  two 
dogs  every  day.  The  laundry  was  an  open 


51 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

shed  and  all  the  work  was  done  by  the 
women  sitting  on  the  ground.  They  sat 
at  their  tubs  and  scrubbed.  They  spread 
a  board  on  the  ground  and  sat  by  it  to  iron 
with  charcoal  burners.  If  the  fire  was 
low  they  could  wait.  As  a  stranger  I 
saluted  them ;  they  were  pleased  with  the 
attention,  and  one  stopped  with  the  hot  iron 
on  a  ruffle,  whose  yellow  scorch  recorded 
the  length  of  the  stranger's  call.  They 
are  great  lovers  of  pets,  especially  dogs, 
for  which  they  seem  to  manifest  more  affec- 
tion than  for  children.  The  latter  they  are 
willing  to  exchange  with  one  another,  but 
the  dogs,  they  are  so  fond  of  as  sometimes  to 
eat  them  as  a  last  token  of  personal  regard. 
The  people  are  simple  in  their  tastes, 
fond  of  bathing  and  of  personal  decoration, 
and  it  is  a  picturesque  sight  when  they  ride 
past,  with  their  long,  black,  luxuriant  hair 
waving  free,  adorned  with  brilliant  lauhala 
or  the  crimson  flowers  of  the  ohia  tree. 
Neither  women  nor  men  are  often  seen 
without  a  "lei"  or  wreath  of  brightest 
flowers  about  their  person. 


52 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

Men  of  rank  and  education  dress  in 
American  fashion,  but  garments  grow 
meagre  as  you  go  into  the  interior,  until  a 
suddenly-drawn-on  pair  of  overalls  is  full 
dress  in  presence  of  a  foreigner,  while  the 
more  common  attire  is  the  narrow  loin- 
cloth and  a  string  of  flowers. 

Apropros  to  this  simple  habit,  the  royal 
robe  of  King  Kamehameha  I.  is  a  marvel- 
ous piece  of  work  which  rivals  the  art  of 
the  finest  civilization.  It  is  a  large  circular 
cloak  (four  and  a  half  by  eleven  and  a  half 
feet  —  almost  four  yards  round)  and  is 
made  of  tiny  feathers  woven  into  an 
ingenious  network  so  that  they  lie  as 
smooth  as  upon  the  neck  of  a  bird,  with- 
out a  thread  visible.  The  color  is  most 
brilliant  yellow  and  the  feathers  are  only 
found  in  a  small  tuft  under  the  wing  of  a 
little  island  bird.  This  robe  is  said  to  have 
occupied  nine  successive  reigns  for  its 
manufacture. 

Native  huts  are  made  of  strips  of  pole  tied 
together  and  thatched  with  grass,  usually 
with  one  door  and  often  no  window,  an 


53 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

earth  floor,  no  chimney,  and  they  last  four 
or  five  years.  The  better  class  build  frame 
houses  and  show  some  taste  in  decoration. 

The  food  of  the  natives  is  very  simple, 
consisting  mainly  of  fruits,  half-ripe  cocoa- 
nuts,  mangoes,  oranges  and  bananas  of 
which  a  dozen  kinds  are  grown  there  and 
are  an  important  article  for  cooking.  They 
are  fond  of  fowl  and  of  pig  roasted  in  a 
hole  in  the  ground  lined  with  stones.  On 
the  stones  a  fire  is  built,  and  when  they 
are  well  heated,  wet  grass  is  thrown  in,  the 
meat  and  vegetables  laid  on,  and  the  whole 
covered  with  grass.  Perhaps  you  had  not 
known  before  that  the  most  delicious 
Maine  clam-bake  came  so  near  to  being 
u  heathenish  "  in  its  mode  of  preparation. 

But  all  these  are  only  occasional  side- 
dishes,  for  the  national,  universal  Hawaiian 
dish,  the  "staff  of  life,"  is  "poi."  Native 
laborers  must  have  poi.  It  is  made  from 
"  taro,"  a  large  beet-like  root  of  the  "Cal- 
adium  Esculentum  "  grown  in  the  over- 
marshes;  it  is  most  nutritious,  and  it  is 
said  that  an  area  forty  feet  square  will 


54 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

grow  enough  taro  to  sustain  a  man  for  an 
entire  year.  The  root  is  baked,  then 
pounded  into  a  thick  paste,  wrapped  in 
"ti"  leaves  and  thus  kept  and  transported 
to  be  used  as  needed. 

When  a  meal  is  to  be  prepared,  a  small 
portion  of  this  heavy  paste  is  placed  in  a 
calabash,  water  is  slowly  added  and  the 
whole  carefully  kneaded  until  smooth  like 
thick  cream.  It  is  better  liked  when  a 
little  soured,  and  is  eaten  with  the  fingers. 
Its  varying  consistency  is  described  as 
"  one-finger-poi,"  "  two-finger-poi "  or 
even  "  three-finger-poi,"  according  to  the 
number  of  fingers  it  takes  to  gather  up  a 
mouthful.  The  whole  group  sit  on  the 
floor  around  the  calabash,  each  with  a 
piece  of  fish  in  one  hand  and  the  other 
free  to  dip  into  the  common  dish.  Each 
deftly  twirls  his  finger  in  and  sucks  it  off 
with  a  smack,  tasting  the  fish  between 
times  as  a  relish.  Salt  fish  is  often  used, 
but  they  like  fresh  better,  very  fresh  indeed. 
Wandering  on  the  beach  one  early  morn- 
ing waiting  for  a  steamer  before  daylight, 


55 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

I  saw  a  native  man  with  two  grown 
daughters  come  from  a  near-by  hut  to  catch 
their  breakfast.  The  father  took  one  end 
of  a  long  strip  of  net  and  waded  into  the 
shallow  waters  of  the  bay  while  one  held 
the  shore  end,  and  the  other  made  frantic 
splashings  to  drive  the  fish  into  the  net. 
Once  drawn,  they  gathered  around  and 
sat  down  to  assort  the  catch,  throwing 
out  the  seaweed  and  putting  the  fish  into 
the  calabash  or  gourd-shell.  But,  look ! 
those  wriggling  fish  did  look  so  good,  and 
as  they  had  had  no  breakfast  yet  —  pardon 
the  hungry  girls  —  every  now  and  then  one 
would  slip  a  fine  fellow  five  or  six  inches 
long  into  her  mouth  head  first  and  chew 
him  appetizingly  down  as  a  cat  a  mouse, 
inch  by  inch.  Have  we  reason  to  think 
they  like  their  fish  fresh  ? 

Leaving  Maui  we  boarded  the  inter- 
island  steamer  for  Hilo,  and  found  on  deck 
the  man  I  longed  most  of  all  to  see,  the 
Rev.  Titus  Coan,  famous  early  missionary 
to  Hawaii.  On  one  occasion  when  he 
returned  to  the  United  States  he  was  intro- 


56 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

duced  at  a  Boston  dinner  as  "The  King  of 
the  volcanoes  and  Manager  of  earthquakes 
at  the  Sandwich  Islands  !  "  We  shall  see 
more  of  him  presently. 

While  rocked  by  the  channel  waves 
let  me  speak  of  the  means  of  inter- 
island  communication.  When  only  native 
schooners  crossed,  the  voyage  used  to 
occupy  from  three  to  six  weeks  from 
Honolulu  to  Hilo  and  return,  a  trip  now 
made  in  four  days  by  a  plucky  Yankee 
steamer.  Desiring  once  to  go  from  Hilo 
to  Honolulu,  when  no  steamer  was  running, 
I  took  passage  on  a  little  sugar-laden  native 
vessel  of  sixty-eight  tons,  with  not  a  white 
man  on  board,  only  poi  to  eat,  a  fragment  of 
old  sail  spread  on  the  hatchway  for  a  bed, 
the  waves  constantly  washing  the  deck,  for 
she  was  laden  to  the  water's  edge,  and  it 
rained  and  rained  !  At  last  she  landed  me, 
grateful  for  my  life,  and  with  a  keen  mem- 
ory of  a  day  and  a  night  with  unknown 
brown  men  on  the  deep. 

But  now  we  are  approaching  the  wind- 
ward side  of  the  island,  Hawaii.  Lava 


57 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

cliffs  rise  sheer  from  the  waves  two  hun- 
dred to  a  thousand  feet  high,  over  which 
leap  cascades  into  the  sea  such  as  cannot 
be  imagined  for  beauty.  At  times  we 
could  see  six  of  these  at  a  view,  fed  by  the 
tremendous  rainfall  in  the  mountains,  for 
it  has  been  known  to  rain  fourteen  feet  of 
solid  water  in  a  single  year  at  Hilo. 

Now  we  round  the  last  point  and  behold 
that  semi-circle  of  beauty,  the  cocoanut- 
fringed  Bay  of  Hilo,  never  to  be  forgotten 
for  its  charm,  and  not  less  for  the  tales  told 
by  Father  Coan  of  what  happened  on  its 
sloping  shores  under  his  own  eye.  Suc- 
cessive tidal  waves  have  come  unheralded 
and  devastated  that  fair  city  front.  On  one 
occasion  the  sea  rose  fifteen  feet  above 
high  water  mark  in  an  instant,  and  carried 
houses,  stores  and  struggling  victims  out  to 
sea,  in  its  reflux,  to  the  great  loss  of  lives 
and  property.  And  yet  the  hazy  atmos- 
phere is  so  soft,  the  eternal  summer  sea  so 
peaceful  in  its  ripple  on  the  smooth  sand, 
that  one  could  listen  to  any  tale  of  disaster 
by  ocean  or  earthquake  or  volcano  and  lie 


58 


COAST  SCENE,  ISLAND  OF  HAWAII 


UNDER   KING   KALAKAUA 

down  on  the  soft  grass  in  perfect  peace, 
and  feel  "  Oh  !  it  cannot  be  here  !  "  But 
we  shall  see.  We  breakfast  on  meat,  fried 
bananas,  boiled  taro  root  and  luscious  figs 
from  the  tree  at  the  garden  gate,  mangoes 
for  dessert  and  coffee  from  the  plantation 
over  the  hill  yonder. 

With  "Father  CoanV  grey  horse, 
newly  shod,  with  saddle  and  spurs,  rubber 
coat  and  saddle-bags  and  plenty  of  courage 
and  curiosity,  we  started  on  the  twenty- 
nine  miles  climb  to  the  crater  of  Kilauea. 
What  we  saw  there  of  the  bottomless  pit, 
the  lake  which  the  natives  call  Halemau- 
mau,  or  "  House  of  everlasting  burning," 
the  molten  lava,  forests  of  ferns  springing 
quick  from  the  warm  crevasse,  herds  of 
wild  cattle  often  sighted  afar,  mountain 
goats  aloft  on  the  lava  ridges,  we  have 
already  described.  It  is  a  rare  chamber 
of  art  in  God's  inimitable  studio. 

The  story  of  the  redemption  of  Hawaii 
remains.  It  covers  but  a  single  generation, 
from  1820  to  1853.  Only  thirty-three 
years  from  the  landing  of  the  first  mission- 


59 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

ary  to  the  accomplished  evangelization  of 
the  race  and  the  withdrawal  of  missionary 
aid.  It  was  indeed  a  signal  instance  of  a 
"nation  born  in  a  day." 

In  round  numbers  we  spent  a  million 
dollars,  and  sent  out  a  hundred  and  forty 
Christian  workers;  the  result?  Seventy 
thousand  men  and  women  baptized,  nearly 
all  of  whom  have  gone  to  sing  the  new 
song  in  their  Father's  house.  One  in  four 
of  the  present  population  (1878)  are  mem- 
bers of  the  church.  New  England  cannot 
match  that  after  two  hundred  and  fifty 
years  of  Gospel  privilege. 

Father  Coan  alone  received  upwards  of 
twelve  thousand  into  his  church  at  Hilo, 
married  over  three  thousand  couples  and 
baptized  forty-five  hundred  infants. 

If  we  seek  returns  in  kind  for  our  outlay, 
the  church  in  Hilo,  during  Father  Coan's 
life,  contributed  a  hundred  thousand  dol- 
lars for  missionary  work  beyond,  and  sent 
twelve  of  its  members  as  foreign  mission- 
aries to  the  South  Sea  Islands.  Dwindled 
and  reduced  by  repeated  colonization,  the 


60 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

annual  gifts  of  that  Hilo  church  averaged 
$1,200.  I  saw  the  monthly  concert  offer- 
ing taken.  Every  man,  woman  and  child 
marched  down  the  aisle  and  past  the  table 
where  the  venerable  missionary  sat,  and 
each  laid  a  gift  upon  the  table ;  poor  people 
they  were,  but  their  gifts  exceeded  a  hun- 
dred dollars  for  that  month  alone. 

I  sat  in  Mr.  Coan's  cool  parlor  looking 
out  on  the  sea,  while  bananas  waved  their 
broad  leaves  at  his  door,  and  the  fragrant 
air  played  with  the  grand  old  man's  white 
locks  upon  a  head  massive,  intellectual,  like 
the  classic  outline  of  Daniel  Webster's,  and 
fanned  a  face,  fairly  glowing  with  Christian 
peace  and  likeness  to  his  Divine  Master. 
And  then  I  heard  him  pray,  —  as  if  the 
door  were  wide  open  into  the  kingdom  and 
he  were  speaking  into  the  ear  of  his  heav- 
enly Lover;  the  only  prayer  I  ever  heard 
that  lasted  a  full  half  hour  and  I  sincerely 
wished  might  continue.  He  pleaded,  O 
how  tenderly !  for  his  scattered  people 
there,  for  his  old  New  England  friends, 
and  for  his  transient  guest,  —  aye  !  and  for 


61 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

all  the  round  world,  for,  though  secluded 
in  that  tiny  isle,  he  was  broad  and  cosmo- 
politan to  a  wonderful  degree. 

And  then  he  told  of  such  scenes  of  apos- 
tolic benediction  as  had  never  been  since 
Pentecost,  and  of  such  terrific  tumblings  of 
the  earth  crust,  such  tearing  and  bursting 
of  the  internal  fires  of  Mauna  Loa,  that  he 
held  me  spellbound  far  into  the  night, 
speaking  in  his  quiet  dignity  of  things 
which  mortals  seldom  see  and  live.  I 
could  only  think  of  Moses  of  old  when  he 
came  down  with  shining  face  from  the 
mountain  where  he  had  seen  God. 

Father  Coan  and  Father  Lyman  had 
Eastern  Hawaii  for  their  field  and  the 
evangelization  of  fifteen  thousand  native 
heathen  for  their  task,  and  they  wrought  it 
well.  Three  hundred  miles  in  circumfer- 
ence, Hawaii  was  traversed  again  and  again 
by  these  men  on  foot,  preaching  from  two 
to  four  times  each  day  in  successive  native 
villages.  There  was  not  a  horse  on  the 
island,  and  often  they  swam  streams  with 
ropes  round  their  waists  or  were  let  down 


62 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

and  drawn  up  otherwise  inaccessible  cliffs 
by  natives.  Their  success  increased  as 
they  learned  the  language  and  habits  until  in 
1839,  the  people  cried  for  "  more  Gospel !  " 
They  requested  the  missionaries  to  cease 
their  itinerary  and  remain  in  Hilo,  and  they 
would  themselves  move  in.  From  a  pop- 
ulation of  one  thousand,  the  city  swelled  in 
a  few  weeks  to  ten  thousand  men  and 
women  who  came  and  built  their  little 
grass  huts  and  made  it  their  business  to 
hear  the  Gospel.  The  conch-shell  would 
call  together  from  four  to  six  thousand 
hearers,  and  for  two  full  years  these  faith- 
ful men  preached  three  times  each  day  to 
vast  and  eager  throngs.  It  was  not  idle 
hearing:  the  first  Sunday  in  July,  1838, 
was  a  glad  day  in  Hilo  :  seventeen  hundred 
and  five  converted  men  and  women  whose 
evidence  of  intelligent  faith  could  not  be 
doubted, —  the  pick  of  many, —  were  gath- 
ered and  seated  in  rows  on  the  grass, 
surrounded  by  a  multitude  of  interested 
spectators.  The  missionaries  read  to  them 
a  simple  creed,  viz.  :  "  You  do  now  truly 


63 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

and  earnestly  repent  of  your  sins  and  stead- 
fastly purpose  to  lead  new  lives  in  Christ 
Jesus  ? "  To  this  they  solemnly  assented  ; 
these  godly  men  then  passed  forth  and 
back  between  the  long  rows  of  devout 
disciples,  sprinkled  each  bowed  head  with 
water  and  said,  amid  the  perfect  but  tearful 
silence,  "I  baptize  you  all  into  the  name 
of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost, — Amen  !"  and  then  the  Holy 
Communion  was  administered,  within  sight 
of  the  distant  volcano,  to  twenty-four  hun- 
dred Christian  communicants  !  Pentecost 
indeed !  And  I  saw  many,  with  grey 
locks  on  their  brown  brows  but  with  souls 
white  within,  who  were  born  then  and 
there  and  have  proven  their  royal  son-ship 
unto  this  day.  It  was  touching  to  sit  and 
worship  with  those  dark-skinned  believers 
in  their  own  church  whose  timbers  were 
dragged  by  hand  from  the  forest,  miles 
away :  whose  foundation  stones  were 
brought  by  brawny  arms,  and  the  lime  for 
whose  mortar  was  lifted  by  divers  from 
coral  reefs  beneath  the  sea.  I  tried  to  ad- 


64 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

dress  the  congregation,  with  Father  Coan 
interpreting,  but  the  odd,  liquid,  mellow 
tones  of  his  voice  quite  disconcerted  my 
thought  and  I  said  in  despair,  "  I  think  you 
will  have  to  finish  this,"  and  he  did  ! 

One  of  the  early  converts  bears  the 
honored  name  of  "  Paul/'  and  after  praying 
in  the  Hawaiian  tongue  for  me  and  for  other 
sinners  and  saints,  he  said  :  "  When  you 
get  back  to  your  people  please  give  them 
Paul's  love!"  I  give  you  the  tender 
message  now.  Many  and  hearty  hand- 
shakes testified  their  cordiality,  and  with 
extreme  reverence  and  affection  they  hung 
upon  Father  Coan's  words  as  he  told  them 
over  and  over  the  story  of  peace  through 
Jesus  Christ. 

Would  you  ask,  What  has  the  Christian 
faith  done  for  the  native  character?  It  has 
transformed  it.  Generations  of  licentious- 
ness cannot  be  regenerated  in  a  day,  and  we 
should  not  expect  these  simple  children  of 
the  sea  to  develop  a  sanctity  which  we 
look  for  in  vain  in  the  homes  of  favored 
New  England  ;  but  in  spite  of  testimony  to 


65 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

the  contrary  from  careless  observers  and 
from  hearsay,  I  gladly  affirm  that  the 
Hawaiians  are  an  eternal  witness  to  the 
power  of  Christ  to  renew  and  revolutionize 
the  life  of  low-down  men.  Some  relapse, 
even  as  some  white  men  do  within  our 
parishes,  but  the  nation  is  regenerate.  Life 
is  easy  and  luxurious.  White  society  is 
excellent,  but  there  is  little  social  intermin- 
gling of  the  races.  Worship  is  separate, 
and  so  are  most  occupations,  the  white 
being  employers  and  the  natives  employed, 
as  a  general  rule.  The  nobles  are  finely 
educated  abroad,  but  the  common  people 
simply  "  grow. "  O,  but  a  perpetually  sunny 
face,  though  brown,  is  like  a  sweet  song, 
and  the  echoes  are  ringing  in  my  ears  on 
chilly  days,  telling  again  of  that  land  whose 
waves  always  smile  in  breakers  or  ever 
they  come  to  the  beach,  and  whose  simple, 
careless,  happy  people  have  caught  'the  joy, 
and  live  and  die  amid  the  ripples  under  an 
ever  smiling  sky. 

And  now  I  have  hardly  more  than  intro- 
duced you   to  a    few   of   these   chestnut- 


66 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

brown  men  and  women  whom  we  might 
meet  in  a  half  hour's  walk,  and  have 
chatted  about  them  between  introductions, 
as  folk  do,  and  it  is  about  time  for  the  last 
page  to  be  written.  Do  not  forget  that 
you  have  met  these  people ;  and  that  when 
men  come  "from  the  East  and  the  West, 
and  the  North  and  the  South  "  to  sit  down 
in  the  kingdom  of  God,  you,  if  you  are 
there,  will  see  many  thousands  of  these 
children  of  the  sea,  wearing  crowns  they 
never  would  have  worn  but  for  the  self- 
denying  toil  and  prayer  of  such  godly  men 
as  our  devoted  missionaries  have  been. 

In  closing  I  must  tell  you  of  some  scenes 
witnessed  in  Hilo  by  Father  Coan  touching 
the  giant  volcano,  Mauna  Loa,  as  related 
to  me  in  his  summer  parlor  by  that  vener- 
able man  who  probably  knew  more  about 
volcanoes  and  their  secrets  than  any  man 
then  living.  Alas  !  that  he  so  early  left 
us,  carrying  many  secrets  with  him  into 
the  beyond  ! 

In  1837,  November  7,  the  crescent  sand 
beach  bounding  Hilo  harbor,  "with  its 


67 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

fringe  of  palms  and  groves,  and  the  great 
ocean  slept  in  summer  calm."  Four 
sermons  had  been  preached  that  day,  one  on 
the  text,  "  Be  ye  also  ready."  The  natives 
were  singing  hymns  out  of  doors  and  Mr. 
Coan  had  gathered  his  family  for  evening 
worship,  when  suddenly  there  came  a 
sound  as  of  some  enormous  body  striking 
the  shore  with  tremendous  force,  followed 
by  shrieks  and  groans.  It  was  soon  seen 
that  a  gigantic  tidal  wave  had  struck  the 
coast,  and,  wrecking  homes,  had  swept  out 
to  a  watery  grave  an  uncounted  multitude 
of  men  and  women. 

In  1855,  Mauna  Loa  evolved  a  mighty 
eruption,  and  'mid  glare,  and  subterranean 
thunders,  poured  volumes  of  molten  lava 
from  its  summit  crater.  This  time  it 
moved  straight  toward  the  city  of  Hilo. 
Seven  months  it  flowed,  now  swiftly,  now 
halting  to  fill  up  some  low  level  of  out- 
lying plain.  From  five  to  five  hundred  feet 
deep,  from  a  half  mile  to  three  miles  wide, 
the  nearing,  devastating  deadly  torrent  of 
fire  crept  steadily  on  toward  the  doomed 


68 


COUNTRY  SCENE  IN  HAWAII 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

city.  It  would  flow  through  a  great 
forest,  and  presently  one  by  one  the 
giant  trees  would  fall,  eaten  off  by  the 
devouring  lava,  and  in  a  few  hours  not  a 
trace  of  the  forest  would  remain  above  the 
seething  surface.  The  flow  was  within 
two  weeks  of  their  homes.  A  day  of  fast- 
ing and  prayer  was  set  apart  throughout 
the  realm  and  vessels  were  in  the  offing  to 
convey  people  to  a  place  of  safety  when 
the  crisis  came.  Father  Coan  preached  a 
Fast  day  sermon,  and  led  the  prayers  of  a 
vast  terror-stricken  assembly  of  six  thou- 
sand people;  an  honest,  hearty  "Amen!" 
sixty  hundred  strong,  endorsed  his  petition. 
With  a  small  party  he  then  visited  the 
on-coming  stream  and  camped  that  night 
upon  its  margin.  Slowly,  in  terrible  march 
it  came,  and  at  daybreak  next  morning  he 
left  it  pouring  over  a  precipice  into  a  deep 
pool  of  water  boiling  and  licked  up  by  its 
tongue  of  flame.  It  filled  that  pool  but  it 
never  overflowed,  and  you  cannot  find  a 
native  old  enough  to  remember,  who  does 
not  know  that  Father  Coan's  prayers 


69 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

checked  the  flow,  extinguished  the  fires 
of  Mauna  Loa  and  saved  the  city  of  Hilo  ! 
The  most  fearful  eruption  was  in  1868. 
On  the  27th  of  March  began  an  unprece- 
dented series  of  earthquakes ;  then  the 
terminal  crater  of  Mo-kua-weo-weo  blazed 
red  into  the  heavens,  and  steam,  smoke  and 
ashes  issued  in  gigantic  columns  ;  four  lava 
streams  began  to  flow.  Intense  interest 
attended  these  phenomena.  Suddenly  the 
rivers  congealed,  the  summit  fires  died 
away  and  the  blue  outline  of  the  giant 
cone  stood  cold  and  clear  again  against  the 
sky.  Ah  !  but  it  was  not  sleeping.  Such 
a  quivering,  trembling,  throbbing  of  the 
earth  began  as  seems  almost  incredible. 
It  continued  five  days  and  nights  unabated. 
The  motion  grew  daily  more  intense  and 
violent.  "  The  crust  of  the  earth  rose  and 
sank  like  the  sea  in  a  gale.'*  He  showed 
me  where  the  earth  opened,  —  huge  seams 
gaped  in  the  very  streets  of  the  city  — 
rocks  were  rent,  buildings  shattered,  ani- 
mals thrown  to  the  ground,  and  earthquakes 
followed  one  another  in  unbroken  succes- 


70 


UNDER    KING    KALAKAUA 

sion.  A  person  lying  on  the  ground  would 
be  rolled  over  and  over;  trees  thrashed 
about  as  in  a  strong  wind.  The  south 
shore  settled  from  four  to  six  feet  and 
villages  were  swallowed  up.  At  last,  on 
the  second  day  of  April,  it  ended  by  the 
bursting  out  of  a  stream  of  lava  through  a 
new  fissure  two  miles  long  in  one  of  the 
old,  settled  and  populated  districts  forty 
miles  away  from  the  mountain,  and  flowed 
into  the  sea.  This  unparalleled  disturb- 
ance had  been  caused  by  that  mighty 
stream  of  lava  ploughing  its  way  for  twenty- 
five  miles  underground  until  it  found  vent. 
Four  thousand  acres  of  valuable  land  was 
buried  and  a  half  mile  added  to  the  contour 
of  the  island,  built  out  into  the  deep  sea. 

There  seems  little  regularity  to  the 
eruptions,  though  approximating  one  in 
about  eleven  years. 

When  the  next  disaster  shall  occur,  no 
man  dare  predict.  Fair  Hilo  may  some 
day  be  classed  with  Herculaneum  and 
Pompeii  among  the  buried  cities  of  the 
world.  We  have  only  the  story  of  a 


71 


THE    HAWAIIAN    ISLANDS 

century,  an  hour  of  God's  time  !  O,  Thou 
.who  taketh  up  the  isles  as  a  very  little 
thing,"  "What  is  man  that  Thou  art 
mindful  of  him  !  " 

But  our  good  ship  Zelandia  is  already 
hauling  her  cables  for  San  Francisco.  The 
cheery  "  Aloha  "  is  ringing  from  deck  and 
wharf  and  we  are  off.  Our  dream  of  the 
tropics  is  over. 

Now  the  islands  lie  astern.  Their  ame- 
thystine peaks  studding  the  golden  sea,  are 
watching  the  setting  sun  and  our  flying  ship. 
Farewell !  Hawaii !  Farewell  to  the  sunny 
land  and  the  happy  people.  Farewell  to 
its  unrivalled  beauties  and  dread  baptisms 
of  fire.  Farewell  to  Father  Coan  and  all 
the  kanakas !  Aloha  nui,  Isles  of  the 
Pacific  !  Aloha  nui,  fair  reader  !  And  may 
you  some  day  have  the  good  fortune  to 
buy  a  ticket  to  Honolulu  and  enjoy  one  of 
the  rarest  dreams  of  travel  ever  offered  the 
ambitious  tourist ! 

THE  END. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 

AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


OCT   14  1944 


OPT  IS  1944 


£GT— 16-194 


NOl  Ly 


"" 


f^ttt 


^&- 


IBRARY  USE 


DEC  22  1959 


RECD 


HAR- 


-fififc3-R 


L1US&2 


04285 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


